[Version 2 Release] RaspberryPints - Digital Taplist Solution

Williams 728
Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
day_trippr said:
"broken pipe"
Click to expand...
Yes those are connection to webpages that go away when the page is closed (and probably when the page is refreshed)

I'm trying to suppress them in the logs but its not as easy as I would think
 
So is there an easy way to update without losing everything each time or having to go through the long winded process of having to replace all the files with back ups? Surely someone else has the RAndR+ version and has the same problem?
 
Well this is weird. Remember back in this post where I gave my opinion on using cheap meters.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/...taplist-solution.487694/page-136#post-8773558

So I bought the $2.99 ($9 with shipping) meter at amazon here:

https://smile.amazon.com/WINGONEER-...er+YF-S401&qid=1580792088&s=industrial&sr=1-1
meter.jpg


I see that’s out of stock, but it appears to be the same one as this one for $8.21 delivered.
https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B07ZNYWK63/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_KPpoEb34MDXA

Notice the specs are .15-3L per minute. The YS-F401 meters we have all been looking at before were 3 - 10L.

I put it on my seltzer tap to try it out. I used ~ 7k pulse to start with, which turned out to be way wrong. I ended up with a pulse count of 22,612, meanwhile my SwissFlow meters have a pulse count of 22,886.
Pulse.jpg


So I’m pouring 8oz into a 4 cup measuring cup. Not the most accurate way of getting a precise amount with as wide as it is.

Here are the results of 4 pours of my best guess at 8oz in that measuring cup.

7.78 oz
7.68 oz
7.57 oz
7.65 oz

That’s a +- .11 oz on four pours in a big measuring cup. That is certainly as accurate as my $80 SwissFlow meters, if it is in fact correct.

Pours list. Keep in mind my RPints has a thing where it splits the pour, 7 seconds apart occasionally. This new meter is no exception, but it doesn't seem to effect accuracy. So the two split pours exactly 7 seconds apart are (18:53:34) 1.99 + (18:53:41) 5.58= 7.57 oz and (18:51:58) 4.15 + (18:52:03) 3.63 = 7.78 oz. If anyone want's to help me get to the bottom of the two pour issues, that would be great. Otherwise, since they are accurate I will just live with them. I assume both pours are getting decremented from my keg, right RandR+?

pours.jpg




I’m ordering 2 more of the ones in stock for my other taps to see how they do. I don’t know about foam. I did not drill out the tiny inlet hole on the meter and I can’t tell with seltzer water if it’s going to foam. I would think they would change the part number if they improved it, but it’s still the YS-F401 meter.

I will let you know my tests on beer when the other ones come in. Maybe someone else would like to blow $ 8.21 delivered, to do a peer review of my findings? If they don't foam like crazy and we as a group can replicate my results, anyone starting out now can get accurate flow monitoring for under $40 for 4 taps.
 
Pretty sure what folks were looking at was the yf-s201 with 1-30 lpm.

Anyway, I'm sorry but it's hard to take this seriously given the operating conditions. And the meter specs.
Until you've run a keg from start to to kick with exactly zero ounces remaining I'll claim "shenanigans" ;)

Cheers!

ps: you're literally the only person that has ever related this whole "split pour" behavior. I'd be inclined to fix that...
 
Also, thanks to everyone here that helped me get my RPints taplist working. I 'm really happy with it and it displays current temp and last pour. RandR+ helped so much by formatting it into two columns for my 8 taps. His expertise was way beyond my capabilities.

rpints.jpg




It looks great in the what my wife insists is the gender neutral cave.

taproom.jpg


I just wanted to thank everyone that has taken time from their day to help me.

Cheers,
Rick
 
day_trippr said:
Pretty sure what folks were looking at was the yf-s201 with 1-30 lpm.

Anyway, I'm sorry but it's hard to take this seriously given the operating conditions. And the meter specs.
Until you've run a keg from start to to kick with exactly zero ounces remaining I'll claim "shenanigans" ;)

Cheers!
Click to expand...
Cool, I'm surprised as you are. So, give me a test you would like to see to prove it is reproducible. I'll post screen shots. I'm as skeptical as you are, since I'm surprised too. Operating conditions? Well for starts the pulse count is incredibly high, I don't know why. Meter specs? I didn't make them up, you can see on Amazon what they claim. I'm willing to do any reasonable test, since maybe this was a fluke. Give me your test and I'll do it. Hope I'm not embarrassed.
 
Not surprise. Skepticism ;)

I've already provided the test - when you think about it, it's the only one that matters.
Start with a full keg, run it 'til it kicks, and let us know how far off your meter was.
Mine are rarely off by more than a single 12 ounce pour. Of course I do start with an accurate, weight-based volume...

Cheers!
 
Last edited:
day_trippr said:
I've already provided the test - when you think about it, it's the only one that matters.
Start with a full keg, run it 'til it kicks, and let us know how far off your meter was.
Mine are rarely off by more than a single 12 ounce pour. Of course I do start with an accurate, weight-based volume...

Cheers!
Click to expand...
OK, well let's see if this will satisfy you. I don't know why you would want to call me out for 'shenanigans' when I have no motivation to mislead this forum when you and others have helped me so much.

So I have a one gallon container.

galcontainer.jpg


As I have previously stated, I get multiple pour values on my RPints. Here is the log of that one gallon pour.

TestPour.jpg

So for this test, we can add them up to get 116 oz vs 128 for a gallon. If you factor in my count was lower in my previous example (and factor that into calibration at an average of 7.67oz reported for 8oz poured) we would get 124.12 oz vs 128 oz. Less than 4 oz over a gallon. I should test my SwissFlow meters and see if they are that accurate. I'm just reporting what I'm seeing to help this forum.
 
So my temp display is showing 41.9C. Its been a hot summer and was 43C on Friday but it certainly hasn't been that hot in my fridge. it was working fine for a few weeks now this. Any ideas what the problem could be?
 
Ok, maybe it isn't that great. I just did another 1 Gal pour and got 132 oz. If you want to go less expensive, I think these flow meters that appear to have a 20k plus pulse per gallon aren't too bad for the money. Accuracy around 4oz per gallon if that is in your tolerance range.
 
Ricand said:
Also, thanks to everyone here that helped me get my RPints taplist working. I 'm really happy with it and it displays current temp and last pour. RandR+ helped so much by formatting it into two columns for my 8 taps. His expertise was way beyond my capabilities.

View attachment 665120



It looks great in the what my wife insists is the gender neutral cave.

View attachment 665124

I just wanted to thank everyone that has taken time from their day to help me.

Cheers,
Rick
Click to expand...

Hey Rick. Your setup looks awesome. I was looking up Sebastopol to see where abouts in the USA it was..lol. Its in bloody Ballarat. Ive been to Ballarat at least 1/2 dozen times. Go there almost every year for the Ballarat beer festival..lol. Didnt realise Sebastopol was in Ballarat..lol..
 
troyp42 said:
Hey Rick. Your setup looks awesome. I was looking up Sebastopol to see where abouts in the USA it was..lol. Its in bloody Ballarat. Ive been to Ballarat at least 1/2 dozen times. Go there almost every year for the Ballarat beer festival..lol. Didnt realise Sebastopol was in Ballarat..lol..
Click to expand...
Looks like Drakes and Henhouse have hit the big times to have a presences in Australia.:)

When you hit the location button does it show a location near you? It shows the Sebastopol in northern California for me.
 
ba-brewer said:
Looks like Drakes and Henhouse have hit the big times to have a presences in Australia.:)

When you hit the location button does it show a location near you? It shows the Sebastopol in northern California for me.
Click to expand...
No I get Sebastopol in Victoria. So he’s not an Aussie then..lol.
 
Ricand said:
Ok, maybe it isn't that great. I just did another 1 Gal pour and got 132 oz. If you want to go less expensive, I think these flow meters that appear to have a 20k plus pulse per gallon aren't too bad for the money. Accuracy around 4oz per gallon if that is in your tolerance range.
Click to expand...

If it holds to that error rate that's very impressive performance, especially for such an inexpensive meter.
That's under a couple of pours for a keg, I think most folks would be happy with that...

Cheers!
 
day_trippr said:
If it holds to that error rate that's very impressive performance, especially for such an inexpensive meter.
That's under a couple of pours for a keg, I think most folks would be happy with that...

Cheers!
Click to expand...
Right? I think pulse counts in the 20K range indicate they might be able to perform better than earlier models. The exact ones I got are not available and I have those others on the way. However, it looks like they are coming straight from China. I'll be wiping them down with disinfectant when they get here. They have shipped, but arrival date is from Feb 25th to March 17th. I don't know how they will perform with beer, so the jury is still out. I will update as soon as I can get them hooked up.
 
On another note. I have an Amazon Echo Show next to my taps. I'm going to try to use bluetooth to set it up as a speaker. I thought I'd try to capture some wave files from Alexa and randomly play them to it. It would be funny to have Alexa make snide comments to my friends when they pour. Anyone have any advice? There seems to be some good info on hooking up the RPi to use the echo devices as a bluetooth speaker.
 
I have the PIR motion detection console display wake-up thing I put together (which iirc @RandR+ may have incorporated in his kit) also trigger a wav file player, so when the screen wakes up the room is filled with bubbling sounds.
Inside my pir_run.py file I use mpg321, as follows:

Code: 
#!/usr/bin/env python

import os
import RPi.GPIO as GPIO
import time
GPIO.setmode(GPIO.BCM)

cmd = 'xscreensaver-command -deactivate'
playsound = 'mpg321 /home/pi/bubbles.mp3'

PIR_PIN = 7
STATUS_PIN = 8
GPIO.setup(PIR_PIN, GPIO.IN)
GPIO.setup(STATUS_PIN, GPIO.OUT)

def MOTION(PIR_PIN):
    os.system(cmd)
    GPIO.output(8,True)
    os.system(playsound)
    GPIO.output(8,False)

try:
    GPIO.add_event_detect(PIR_PIN, GPIO.RISING, callback=MOTION)
    while 1:
        time.sleep(100)

except KeyboardInterrupt:
    GPIO.cleanup()

GPIO.cleanup()


I imagine one could add a similar system call to a wav file player within flow_monitor.py if one was so inclined. Could even make it tap-relative :)

Cheers!
 
day_trippr said:
which iirc RandR+may have incorporated in his kit
Click to expand...
Sure did, its in /python/FlowMonitor.py under the MotionDetectionPIRThread class

so it should be something like this
Code: 
debug("Motion Detector " + self.threadID + " Detected Motion")
        #Wake up every users monitor, need to loop through the users otherwise the command wont know who is currently logged in
        #To see full command replace ;'s with new lines
        os.system('export DISPLAY=":0.0"; for dir in /home/*/; do export XAUTHORITY=$dir.Xauthority; xscreensaver-command -deactivate > /dev/null 2>&1; done;')
os.system('mpg321 /home/pi/bubbles.mp3')
        time.sleep(1)
 
day_trippr said:
I have the PIR motion detection console display wake-up thing I put together (which iirc @RandR+ may have incorporated in his kit) also trigger a wav file player, so when the screen wakes up the room is filled with bubbling sounds.
Inside my pir_run.py file I use mpg321, as follows:

Code: 
#!/usr/bin/env python

import os
import RPi.GPIO as GPIO
import time
GPIO.setmode(GPIO.BCM)

cmd = 'xscreensaver-command -deactivate'
playsound = 'mpg321 /home/pi/bubbles.mp3'

PIR_PIN = 7
STATUS_PIN = 8
GPIO.setup(PIR_PIN, GPIO.IN)
GPIO.setup(STATUS_PIN, GPIO.OUT)

def MOTION(PIR_PIN):
    os.system(cmd)
    GPIO.output(8,True)
    os.system(playsound)
    GPIO.output(8,False)

try:
    GPIO.add_event_detect(PIR_PIN, GPIO.RISING, callback=MOTION)
    while 1:
        time.sleep(100)

except KeyboardInterrupt:
    GPIO.cleanup()

GPIO.cleanup()


I imagine one could add a similar system call to a wav file player within flow_monitor.py if one was so inclined. Could even make it tap-relative :)

Cheers!
Click to expand...
Thanks for this info day_trippr, I'm making some progress. I got the python script working to play mp3 sounds you used in your example. I used the echo routines skill to respond with my text input in her voice. The Copper Cat Brewery Band stage mike recorded it and convert it to an mp3 file with our dau. It was trivial to connect the echo show as a bluetooth speaker from the Pi. I'm working on some code to do a tap specific response on the echo. Like "Good choice on the Copper Cat Pale ale". It's beyond my current knowledge, but I'll learn and get it. I was worried I was getting to the end of my fun rabbit hole getting this RPints the way I wanted it. This gave me a deeper hole and more fun. RandR+ implementation of your motion sensor script was seamless. Just connected it up, installed the software and used his configuration menu to select the pin. Worked right away.
 
Just a huge shout out to @RandR+ for all his work on meters/valves/RFID. I've been testing the logic and running meters and RFID. It's working perfectly and keeps running (was an issue with Arduino just stopping) So, with all @RandR+ 's hard work, this is ready for prime time for me. Can't wait to get my Inkjet printable RFID cards and start handing them out to all my beer drinking buddys. I'll post pics in a month or two, once the bar is fully done and I have beer brewing. I'm sure I'll be back with questions about foam. :)
 
In fact...one quick one. anything wrong with connecting the valve and meter right next to each other. like 1 inch apart and keep it in a nice nema enclosure with the electronics?
 
To the extent the valve's effect on flow quality is unknown, I would not only put them close together, I would try to use a fitting that would allow screwing them together and locating them as close to the keg as possible...then hope for the best...

Cheers!
 
day_trippr said:
To the extent the valve's effect on flow quality is unknown, I would not only put them close together, I would try to use a fitting that would allow screwing them together and locating them as close to the keg as possible...then hope for the best...

Cheers!
Click to expand...


perfect. I have 3/8" OD john guest quick connects on both the valve and meter (Swissflow). I'll just use tubing between them. Say 1-1/2".

I also picked up a tap tower with glycol blocks... Can I just run lines for beer to fridge and run glycol lines to freezer and hook up a pump...keep freezer warm (32 degrees or so)? Don't want to buy a chiller ($$$). Still planing on using trunk line concept...not sure I'll buy specific trunk line at $10 a foot for 4/2...might see how homemade line might work...
 
IMG_0268.JPG


Running into some issues finding what exact line of code to change to edit specific items fonts and sizes. I’ve been changing the html/styles.css. I changed the beer name and brewery name size but that automatically changed the “taps” and “last pour” as well. (Prob changed wrong file)
Want to:
Make brewery name bigger
Make beer name bigger
Make beer description bigger
Make amount poured and amount remaining bigger
Remove “last pour” text from top right
Make beer name from last pour bigger
Remove “taps” from center

Where do I need to make these specific changes?
 
Bigs166 said:
Running into some issues finding what exact line of code to change to edit specific items fonts and sizes. I’ve been changing the html/styles.css. I changed the beer name and brewery name size but that automatically changed the “taps” and “last pour” as well. (Prob changed wrong file)
Want to:
Make brewery name bigger
Make beer name bigger
Make beer description bigger
Make amount poured and amount remaining bigger
Remove “last pour” text from top right
Make beer name from last pour bigger
Remove “taps” from center

Where do I need to make these specific changes?
Click to expand...

Some of this I'm not certain, but a good way to start is when you're using a browser such as Chrome. You can hover over an element, right click, inspect element and it will show you what CSS is called and the row in the CSS that controls the element. You can actually play with some of the styles and add new styles to visually see how the browser interprets those changes.

In the style.css, h1 you can control the "brewery name". Be Wary...it may make other h1 elements change too. To h1 you can add a style such as:

font-size: 2.5em;

(that will override any other call)

the beer name is controlled in table h1 of style.css

the beer description is also found in the style.css under table p
 
Hello All,

Just finished my new kegerator and intend to install RaspberryPints in the near future (just want to do some more research on the flow meters and decide if some of the cheaper options are worth it)

Quick question: would it be possible to use a table as a display instead of a TV/Computer monitor? I dont really have the space to mount/place a TV/Monitor, so installing a tablet would be ideal.

I am working my way through all 138 pages of this discussion, but I cant seem to find anything definitive. Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks!
 
Bigs166 said:
Make brewery name bigger
Make beer name bigger - style.css
Make beer description bigger - style.css
Make amount poured and amount remaining bigger - style.css
Remove “last pour” text from top right - index.php
Make beer name from last pour bigger - style.css/index.php
Remove “taps” from center - index.php:line 225
Click to expand...
 
I did it before but I can’t remember where to remove the entire row with “color, beer name, style, abv....”. Thought it was in index but I don’t think. ??
 
Hey guys thanks heaps to everyone that helped with my dumb questions. Really happy with how this all turned out. And thanks heaps to RANDR+ for his awesome version. Flow meters are working well and seem to be accurate enough for my needs. Wont know until I can put a new keg in with a known volume.

Screen Shot 2020-02-07 at 7.18.41 pm.png
 

Similar threads

Tobor_8thMan
[Version 2 Release] RaspberryPints - Digital Taplist Solution - Tobor-8thMan Version
Replies
6
Views
4K
day_trippr
day_trippr
Fred S
RaspberryPints - Latest HW / SW as of Dec 2017 (PRi 3 B; Raspian Oct 2017)
Replies
21
Views
3K
day_trippr
day_trippr
OkieNotFromMuskogee
A Brewpi Remix Build
2
Replies
52
Views
10K
bloombrews
bloombrews
garzlok
My Fermentrack Build
2
Replies
56
Views
17K
garzlok
garzlok
B
DIY 5KW Induction Heater
Replies
2
Views
5K
Spivey24
S

Latest posts

Back
Top